Graywater recycling system including rainwater recovery

ABSTRACT

A graywater recycling system having separate graywater and blackwater drain lines and a graywater flushing line connected to an upstream end of the blackwater drain line. The system is also provided with a subsurface graywater irrigation network with a graywater flushing line connected to the network. A rainwater collection system is in fluid communication with a graywater collection and distribution network. The system may be provided with a fire protection system in fluid communication with the graywater network and the rainwater system. Additionally, the separate graywater and blackwater piping may be run in a trench separator having a divider and closure lids.

This patent application is a continuation of patent application Ser. No.12/009,560, filed Jan. 18, 2008, which claims priority to provisionalpatent application Ser. No. 60/881,094, filed Jan. 18, 2007.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an improved graywater recycling systemincluding rainwater recovery. The invention further comprises: a.separate drainage mains from individual residences to an interconnectedsystem for graywater collection, filtration, and recycling; b. a trenchseparator separating a graywater main and a graywater supply line from ablackwater main; c. an automatic blackwater main flushing and cleaningsubsystem providing assurances that effluents are purged from theresidential blackwater main to the blackwater piping connected to thesewer treatment plant; and d. a rainwater recycling subsystem providinga water source for fire protection, toilet maintenance, and landscapeirrigation. Each of these features are described in further detailbelow.

The inventor's prior U.S. Pat. No. 6,132,138 discloses a basic graywaterrecycling system and is incorporated herein by reference for allpurposes. The prior disclosure indicates that the underground recyclingsystem may be used for many purposes, including use beyond the singleresidence setting, such as an entire residential and commercialdevelopment using a centralized holding or treatment facility. The priordisclosure does not teach specifically how this may be achieved nor doesit disclose the improved features of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a single facility showing splitting the mains tocollect graywater for a grayscaping water system with automatic flushingfor the blackwater main, a rainwater fire protection and toilet flushingsystem, and a graywater/aerobic collection system. Enlarged views ofportions of FIG. 1 are shown in FIGS. 1′ through 1″″.

FIG. 1A is an enlarged view of the circled portion 1A in FIG. 1. Itillustrates the graywater supply line connected to provide flushing forthe blackwater main in the house.

FIG. 1B is an enlarged view of the circled portion 1B in FIG. 1. Itillustrates a pressurized flushing system provided for each section ofthe underground irrigation system of the present invention.

FIG. 1C is an enlarged view of the circled portion 1C in FIG. 1. Itillustrates the graywater flushing main tied into the blackwater main.

FIG. 1D is an enlarged view of the circled portion 1D in FIG. 1. Itillustrates the pressurized rainwater supply line tied into theRainScaping toilets of the present invention and the tie-in with thegraywater supply line to provide an alternative or supplement flushingwater source for the in-house toilets.

FIG. 1E is an enlarged view of the circled portion 1E of FIG. 1. Itillustrates lines to the plant and the valves and meter from the plantto a residence.

FIG. 1′ is an enlarged view of portion 1′ of FIG. 1.

FIG. 1″ is an enlarged view of portion 1″ of FIG. 1.

FIG. 1′″ is an enlarged view of portion 1′″ of FIG. 1.

FIG. 1″″ is an enlarged view of portion 1″″ of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic plan for seventy-two residential homeswith wastewater and rainwater systems of the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a schematic of a trench of the present invention.

FIG. 2B is an illustration of the trenchscaping system of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2C shows the automatic blackwater main flushing and cleaning systemof the present invention.

FIG. 2D shows the blackwater flushing and cleaning connection of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2E illustrates a typical graywater lateral line connection of thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates the various components of the rainwater/graywaterrecycling plant of the present invention. Enlarged views of portions ofFIG. 3 are shown in FIG. 3′ and 3″.

FIG. 3A shows the sediment cleaning system located in the bottom of agraywater collection tank of the present invention.

FIG. 3B illustrates the sediment cleaning system located in the bottomof the rainwater collection tank of the present invention.

FIG. 3C is an enlarged view of the circled portion 3C of FIG. 3. Itillustrates the various components of the pump house of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3D is an enlarged view of the circled portion 3D of FIG. 3. Itshows the pressurized rainwater and graywater tanks of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3E is an enlarged view of the circled portion 3E of FIG. 3. Itshows the graywater collection tanks of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

Splitting the sewer mains to collect graywater for use in a residentialsubdivision, resort, commercial establishment, communities, villages,towns, cities and military establishments is one aspect of the presentinvention. FIG. 1 shows a single facility with a split sewer mainssystem. FIGS. 1A-1E illustrate details of portions of FIG. 1. FIGS. 1′through 1″″ shows portions of FIG. 1 in larger size.

Most single family homes in a subdivision, multi-family units, condos,hotels, motels, businesses, and resort communities currently have onlyone expensively treated potable water supply line which is plumbed toall the fixtures and may be used to irrigate the landscape. There isonly one sewer main. This sewer main is installed in the unit'sfoundation and collects 100% of the used potable water, wastewater oreffluent from all of the fixtures in the unit. Blackwater and graywatercollected in this one sewer main is directed into the street sewer andeventually ends up in the city sewer plant for treatment. This sewermain contains the blackwater which is effluent from the toilets, thekitchen sink and the dishwasher. These fixtures account for onlyapproximately 35% of the total wastewater in a home. The other 65% ofthe wastewater is called graywater. Graywater is effluent from thelavatories, bathtubs, showers, washing machine and any air conditioningcondensate lines.

The present invention will split or separate the effluent in order tocapture the graywater with all its nutrients for use in an undergroundirrigation system called “GrayScaping” for use in an entire subdivisionto include condos, town homes, hotels or resorts. From the home, thegraywater is directed to the street via piping in a joint trench sharedwith the blackwater main as discussed further below and illustrated inFIGS. 2-2E.

FIGS. 3 and 3E illustrate that the graywater from the homes istransferred via graywater mains 50 to a unique central graywaterrecycling plant and into the plant's specially designed graywatercollection or holding tanks (52 and 52 a). If there is too muchgraywater being produced, an overflow pipe (54) with a backwater valvedirects the excess from the tank to the city sewer. The graywater isfiltered (56) (not treated) to retain the nutrients for the landscaping(see FIG. 3C). The filtered graywater is then pressurized (58) androuted back (60) to each residence for reuse (see FIG. 3D). The recycledgraywater may also be used for irrigating a communal greenbelt landscapeor associated golf course. It may also be used in commercialdevelopments. The blackwater (FIG. 1, 62) is directed into the citysewer, a sewer treatment plant or an aerobic system (FIG. 1, 64).

An advantage of the present invention is that it reduces the size of theexisting blackwater sewer mains in a home from a standard 4″ line downto a 3″ blackwater sewer main since it is collecting only 35% of thewastewater rather than 100%. This then allows the builder to reduce hiscost and apply it to the cost of installing the separate graywater main.Further piping size reductions are gained in the blackwater main from atypical 8″ main down to a 6″ main on side streets and from a 12″ maindown to an 8″ main on the primary street line to the city sewer.

Another feature of the present invention of splitting the mains solves aproblem of not having sufficient blackwater to flush the solids from thestructure to the street main. This problem is solved as illustrated inFIGS. 1 and 1A by extending the blackwater main (62) at the end of theline or last bathroom (61) (usually in the back of the home) to outsidethe home and installing a clean-out fitting (66) to accept a designated,automatic graywater supply line (68) from the “GrayScaping” irrigationsystem. This allows for automatic flushing of effluent in the blackwatermain in the structure to the street main.

A second pressurized “flushing or cleaning” system is provided for eachof the underground irrigation's sections used. FIG. 1B illustrates anexample of one section. Each section has a flushing valve (70) (eitherautomatic or manual) connected to the graywater supply line 71 and is influid communication with a graywater flushing main (72). All sections inthe “GrayScaping System” are tied into the graywater flushing main. Thegraywater flushing main solves problems relating to the rules andregulations most States have regarding not allowing graywater aboveground, i.e., there may be no “ponding” of graywater allowed on anyyard. The present graywater flushing main may be directed to the frontof the home where it may be properly tied into the blackwater main toinsure that the blackwater effluent will be flushed down from the frontof the home to the street as shown in FIG. 1C.

The present invention also directs a pressurized rainwater supply line(73) from a rainwater system to “RainScaping Toilets” to help flusheffluent in the blackwater mains to the street by allowing 5 gallons ofrainwater per flush to flush these toilets (see FIG. 1D). This will saveup to 40,000 gallons of the potable water per year per home currentlyused to flush existing standard toilets. The pressurized line (73) willbe directed to each “RainScaping Toilet” tank which is installed insidethe wall of the structure and which is accessible through a keyed accesspanel. The plastic, rainwater flush tank will not be seen from insidethe bathrooms. The toilet will be wall mounted with no base support soone may easily clean the entire floor under it. It will have anautomatic flushing device and an automatic toilet lid closing device.Alternatively, the rainwater supply line might be directed to anystandard toilet in the home. As described below, these “RainScapingToilets” may be operated off of a portion of the pressurized graywatermain, as needed.

There are numerous benefits of the present inventive system. Thedeveloper will be paying for only the trenching, graywater piping andthe facilities that are required at the central recycling plant. Thebuilder will be paying for splitting the mains and installing theGrayScaping irrigation system in each home required for the overallsystem.

By downsizing the blackwater mains, the developer can offset this costand apply it to the cost of installing the graywater mains. Thedeveloper also gains more building lots per acre since city and stateregulations restrict a certain number of homes per acre depending uponthe amount of wastewater per day the utility has to treat. This adds upto a tremendous amount of savings to the developer which will more thanoffset the entire graywater and rainwater recycling system costs for theentire subdivision.

Theoretically, by reducing the amount of wastewater to only 35% of thattraditionally used, a developer may add two more $50,000-lots per acre.If he is also the builder, he may build two (2) additional$200,000-homes per acre. If he makes a $50,000 per home profit, in a500-acre development, a developer/builder could make up to a hundredmillion dollars in profits by using the present inventive system.

A problem facing developers of new projects has been concerns overwastewater treatment and disposal of the treated wastewater. Arearesidents, community leaders, state and federal authorities areconcerned that excessive wastewater will end up in creeks, streams,rivers or lakes and eventually end up in underground aquifers . . . themain supply of drinking water. A 3,500 home development will produceover 1,400,000 gallons per day or over 511,000,000 gallons annually ofwastewater which includes the graywater.

The present invention of “splitting the mains” in every structure in thedevelopment allows for capture of the graywater produced from theseunits and the recycling of the graywater with all its nutrients. Anygraywater not recycled may be directed to the standard treatment plant.

A portion of the treated effluent from a sewer treatment plant (74) maybe directed to a rainwater tank (102) in the graywater/rainwater/fireprotection recycling plant of the present invention as shown in FIGS. 3and 3″. This portion may be used as a supplemental water supply to fillgraywater collection/holding tanks (52) if there is not sufficientgraywater produced for the GrayScaping system. The present inventivesystem may be used for an entire development including irrigating acommunity greenbelt landscape or associated golf course. It may be usedin commercial establishments associated with the development. Adeveloper may extend the system into the city, county or state street,road or highway along the front of his development. All graywater andall reclaimed water from the treatment plant may be separately meteredand computer monitored. This will provide data for the developer fordesigns of future developments.

In a rural subdivision where there is not a city public water system, adeveloper must drill sufficient water wells and pay engineering costs todesign a water system plant large enough to handle a 3,500 homedevelopment. The developer must ensure water mains are large enough tosupply the entire community. There is often concern that thedevelopment, with its deep commercial wells, will deplete aquifersupplies of drinking water. Again, the present invention of splittingthe mains and installing the GrayScaping irrigation system in each homeas part of the inventive system eliminates the expensive process ofwatering the landscape with potable water. Landscape watering is oftenthe largest water use in a home. Instead of having to treat thegraywater effluent, the present invention simply collects it from thehomes, filters it, pressurizes it and returns it to each of the homesfrom where it was collected for irrigation of the landscaping.

Each GrayScaped yard will allow a homeowner to save up to 100,000gallons of potable water annually by using graywater for irrigation. Thedeveloper saves by downsizing his water plant and his water mains andnot having to drill as many wells. The developer/builder may advise theconcerned individuals that the aquifer is not being depleted. Thedeveloper/builder in fact may be saving up to 490,000,000 gallons ofwater annually by splitting the mains to collect their graywater andusing it on landscaping instead of using well water. Another savings thedeveloper may advise concerned individuals is that a rainwater recyclingsystem (“RainScape”) may be used to flush every toilet in every home inthe subdivision (see FIG. 1D). This will eliminate the expensive processof flushing toilets with potable water which is the second largest userof water in a home. Each RainScaped home will allow a homeowner to saveanother 40,000 gallons of potable water annually. By using thesupplemental rainwater tank at the central plant, it will ensure thegraywater tank will have sufficient water for the GrayScaping irrigationsystems. By splitting the mains and collecting the graywater, the usageof potable water to a 3500 home subdivision may be reduced from up to511,000,000 gallons annually to less than 21,000,000 gallons annually.

Additional benefits of the present invention to the developer include:

-   -   a. the developer may qualify to acquire federal grants for        installing graywater systems that are available from many        federal organizations;    -   b. the developer may acquire low interest loans for installing        graywater systems that are available from many federal        organizations;    -   c. the developer may acquire tax incentives for installing        graywater systems;    -   d. the developer will be able to acquire tax incentives for        installing rainwater systems that are available from the        counties, towns or cities; and    -   e. the developer may acquire money for installing fire        protection systems from the insurance companies.

Benefits to a builder include:

-   -   a. by splitting the mains and by downsizing the blackwater main,        the builder may apply the cost saving to the cost of installing        the graywater main;    -   b. the builder may effectively have more lots to build on in the        development by splitting the mains due to the rule of the        developer getting more homes per acre due to less sewage        treatment;    -   c. the builder may reduce the likelihood of foundation and home        cracking by controlling the moisture content around the slab in        expansive soils. This may prevent costly lawsuits, bad        reputations, unhappy homeowners and the cost of having to repair        the damage. Avoiding these adverse costs may result in savings        which more than offset the cost of splitting the main and        installing the GrayScaping system. The additional cost to        install the present inventive system is not much more than the        cost of most aboveground sprinkler systems which the builder        typically installs.

Benefits of the present inventive system to the utility providerinclude:

-   -   a. not having to treat up to 350,000,000 gallons of water        annually (due to the developer splitting the mains to collect        their graywater and to use it in their landscaping instead of        the potable water);    -   b. not having to treat up to 140,000,000 gallons of potable        water annually (due to the developer splitting the mains to        collect graywater and to use it to flush toilets instead of by        using potable water); and    -   c. not having to treat up to 350,000,000 gallons of sewage        (graywater) annually (due to the developer splitting the mains        to collect graywater and to use it in landscaping instead of        potable water).

Benefits to the homeowner include:

-   -   a. the home owner saves up to 140,000 gallons of potable water        annually that they would have had to pay for if the mains were        not split and potable water was used to irrigate landscaping and        to flush toilets;    -   b. the home owner saves in repairs for expensive foundation and        home cracks with the use of graywater around the foundation in        expansive soils;    -   c. the home owner saves in repairs to the home due to damaging        termites and wood cutting ants with automatic injections of        pesticides into the graywater;    -   d. the homeowner saves by eliminating the pest control costs for        treating for fire ants, scorpions, grub worms and any other        damaging insects in the yard with automatic injections of        insecticides into the graywater;    -   e. the homeowner saves in having to fertilize the yard and puts        an end to above ground applications with automatic injections of        fertilizers into the graywater; and    -   f. the homeowner saves by not having to replace the landscaping        every time a drought hits and the utility's rationing program is        enforced.

Benefits to concerned individuals (including city and state officials)include:

-   -   a. they are satisfied to know the developer will not be dumping        raw sewerage into creeks, streams, rivers or lakes and        potentially polluting underground aquifers; and    -   b. they are satisfied to know the developer will not be        depleting underground aquifers of drinking water

Turning to FIGS. 2-2D, an embodiment of the present invention includes atrench system installed in the road easement from the homes to thecentral graywater/rainwater recycling plant. The easement is used forinstalling the blackwater and graywater sewer mains and the graywatersupply main. FIG. 2 shows a schematic plan for seventy-two residentialhomes using the inventive trench system.

This trench is called “TrenchScaping”. FIG. 2A illustrates a trenchschematic. It is designed to separate the graywater main and graywatersupply line on one side of the trench and the blackwater main on theother side of the trench as shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C. The trenchseparator (80) is a rubberized or plastic horizontal trough (80) for theblackwater line and the graywater lines with a vertical divider (82) andlids (84). One preferred design uses a modular connecting system orlocking connection to couple trench systems and form a continuoustrough.

The trench separator (80) is installed first in the trench and then theblackwater and graywater mains are installed in the connected troughsection. A sensor wire (not shown) is then attached to the mains todetect any breaks and notify the provider of break along with thelocation. A rubberized lid (84) will be inserted on top of the trenchseparator for additional protection. This will eliminate having toinstall the expensive, required “bedding sand” and will also act as asleeve when crossing a potable water line which is required by manylocal and state rules and regulations. In case of a break in theblackwater main, the leaking effluent will simply run down the trough tothe end of the line and will flow back into the sewer main through atrough diverter fitting. There will be no dirt going into the sewerbecause of the lid. This lid may also prevent breakage from backhoessince the trench separator will be a durable rubberized or plasticproduct and may be provided with bright color coding to indicate eithergraywater and blackwater. If either of the graywater mains breaks, theleaking effluent will simply run down the trough and flow into thegraywater holding tanks through the trough diverter fitting.

FIG. 2C further illustrates an automatic blackwater main flushing andcleaning system (86) installed in the trench separator (80).

A line is installed from the graywater pressure supply line to the homesand is properly tied into the blackwater main on an angle (see FIG. 2D)so as to flush and clean the effluents down to the sewer plant. Thissolves the problem of not having sufficient wastewater in the blackwatermain when the graywater has been separated into a separate main. A gatevalve, double check valve, electronic flow meter and a control valve maybe wired to a controller/timer in the recycle plant to provide for theautomatic flushing and cleaning the blackwater main.

FIG. 1E is an enlarged view of the circled portion of FIG. 1 marked 1E.It illustrates lines to the plant (FIG. 3) and the valves and meter fromthe plant to a residence. It also illustrates the case where thesubdivision does not have a sewer plant and an aerobic system (64) isinstalled on the lot.

Yet another portion of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 1-3and includes a rainwater recycling system which may further include afire protection system. Rainwater is collected from every roof in thesubdivision by leafless gutters tied into downspouts headered to arainwater return's stub-out tied into the street main (FIG. 1E). Therainwater collected will then be directed, using the same trench as theblack and graywater mains (see FIG. 2B), to the graywater/rainwater/fireprotection recycling system plant and into the rainwater tank (FIG. 3).

FIGS. 3-3E and 3′ and 3″ illustrate the following features of thepresent inventive system:

-   -   a. Injection tank (1) (FIGS. 3C and 3′s) to feed liquid        fertilizer, pesticide, insecticide, etc.;    -   b. Filters (56) (FIG. 3C) to remove final material (swimming        pool type, beaded type, and macron type);    -   c. Booster pumps (3) (FIG. 3C) for graywater system (two each);    -   d. Booster pumps (4) for rainwater system (two each);    -   e. Standby water source (106) (well or public water supply)        (FIGS. 3 and 3″);    -   f. Transducer (6) (FIG. 3D) for pressure controls through        solenoid valves to control water flow;    -   g. Pressure relief safety valve (7) (FIG. 3D);    -   h. Suction pump (8) (FIG. 3C) from the graywater sediment        cleaning system to discharge into disposal unit;    -   i. Suction pump (9) (FIG. 3C) from the rainwater sediment        cleaning system to discharge into disposal unit;    -   j. Automatic controls (10) (FIG. 3C) utilizing the transducers        to operate all systems except the automatic sediment collection        system;    -   k. Adjustable time clock (11) (FIG. 3C) to operate the automatic        sediment collection system;    -   l. Adjustable float switch (12) (FIG. 3E) to control discharge        from rainwater collection tank; and    -   m. Adjustable float switch (13) (FIG. 3E) to control discharge        pumps (3) in pump house (55).

Any overflow may be diverted to a small lake or pond (100) where it maybe used to resupply the rainwater tank (102) when needed. Any excessfrom the lake will overflow into a detention pond and/or overflow intothe retention pond as needed. The detention pond will maintain the smalllake's level. As an alternative, if there is still too much overflow,the level of the lake may be maintained with above ground sprinklerheads to irrigate parks and greenbelts. Alternatively, it may bedistributed around the subdivision for fire protection.

As may be seen in FIGS. 3 and 3″, the primary supplementary water supplyfor the rain water collection tank (102) at the central plant will bethe retention pond (100) that the city requires the developer to installat each development.

A submergible pump is installed in the retention pond which iscontrolled by a float system to activate the pump when the retentionpond becomes full. When it gets low, the controller shuts off the pump.A line is run from the pump to a series of smaller reserve rainwatertanks (104) (FIG. 3) located throughout the development. These tanks areall connected and are fed from the retention pond. The first tank fillsup and overflows via a pipe to the next tank. When the second is filled,it overflows to the next tank and continues to the last one near thegraywater/rainwater plant. The overflow line (105) is extended into theplant and to the top of the main rainwater collection tank and serves asadditional supplemental water supply. A gate valve and a solenoid valvemay be installed and activated by a transducer or other level/pressurecontrols to allow the rainwater tank to be filled as needed.

When no city sewer or any retention ponds are required, the water supplyfor the rain water collection tank may be the treated effluent from asewer treatment plant (106). A line (74) will be run to the top of thetank (102) and automatically be discharged into the rainwater tank. Whenfull, it will overflow to the detention pond or small lake withwaterfalls for aeration of the system. This aerates the rainwater tankin the filling process. The 98% treated effluent may have elevatedchlorine levels, but will be diluted by the larger volume of collectedrainwater and should be safe for the environment. An introduced chlorinemay disinfect the rainwater of bacteria entering the system from theroof or gutter of a house. A meter, a cut-off valve and an air gap maybe installed in this automatic fill line prior to entering the rainwatertank.

Further yet another aspect of the present invention shown in FIGS. 3Aand 3B includes automatic sediment cleaning systems (110 and 112)located in the bottom of graywater collection tanks (52) and rainwatercollection tank (102), respectively. Lines (57 and 59) are run fromsuction pumps in a pumphouse (55) to the graywater (110) and rainwatertank's (112) automatic sediment cleaning system. The lines are tied intoa piping system installed at the bottom of the tanks with suction headswhich will draw sediment from the tanks automatically on a periodicbasis. The system will be hooked up to a controller/timer. A meter, acut-off valve and an air gap may be installed in this automatic fillline prior to entering the graywater tank.

A secondary supplementary water supply for the rainwater collectionsystem may be the potable water introduced into line (74) which extendsto the top of the collection tank (102) where it will have an air gapwhen filling. Again, this aerates the rainwater tank during the fillingprocess. When there is insufficient treated effluent from the sewertreatment plant (106) and not enough rainwater to keep the rainwatertank full, the potable water supply will activate through a solenoidvalve in line (74). This insures that the rainwater tank will have asufficient water supply for flushing toilets, supplementing thegraywater tank, and available for use in the event of a fire. When thewater level reaches a cut off probe at a pre-determined fill level belowthe overflow, a signal is sent to the solenoid valve to shut off thepotable water supply.

A pipe (114) (FIG. 3) is run from the rainwater tank (102) to afiltration system inside the pump house (55) and then to a pump (4)where the rainwater is then directed into a pressure tank (51) (FIG. 3D)which is regulated at a certain pressure by a compressor. Thepressurized rainwater is distributed throughout the subdivision andstubbed out to each lot. A meter, a double check valve, and a shut-offvalve may be installed. The service line is run to the house to providerainwater to flush toilets and/or for a fire protection system. Prior toexiting the central plant, an ultra violet light (19) may be installedto treat the recycled water to ensure that no bacteria will be going tothe houses. It may also be treated by a chlorination system (21), ifnecessary.

One function the rainwater tank (102) serves is to be the primarysupplemental water supply (17) for the graywater collection tanks (FIG.3E) using a float system (similar to a toilet) or a probe system. Whenthe level drops to a pre-determined low position in the graywater tank,it signals for the solenoid to open at the bottom of the rainwater tankto fill the graywater collection tank until the float reaches the filledposition below, the overflow signaling a solenoid valve to shut offflow. This ensures that the GrayScaping systems are providing adequatewater to irrigate the landscaping in the GrayScaping market served.

A second function the rainwater collection tank (102) serves in thepresent invention relates to “RainScaping Toilets” discussed above. Apressurized rainwater supply line (73) (FIGS. 1 and 1D) extends from therainwater recycling system to each lot in the subdivision and into thehouse or establishment. The “RainScaping Toilets” flush effluent in theblackwater mains to the street by providing five (5) gallons ofrainwater to flush the toilets instead of the standard 1.6 gallons perflush. This may save up to 40,000 gallons of the potable water in a homethat would otherwise be used by an existing standard toilet. Thispressurized line may also be tied into a “FireScaping” system usingappropriate control valves.

A further function the rainwater collection tank (102) plays is toprovide pressurized rainwater via pressurized rainwater tank 951) andfeedline (99) (see FIG. 3D) to the house, inside the walls, and up tothe attic to control valves in various fire protection zones. The fireprotection system may have a controller well-known in a conventionalsprinkler system. An example of how such a “FireScaping” system may bearranged follows.

Station #1 may have one sprinkler head placed at the front of the houseat the very top of the ridge, one sprinkler head at the other end of theridge, and one sprinkler head in the middle of the ridge for doublecoverage which may wet the roof and keep hot ashes or sparks fromstarting a fire on the roof. These heads may be full circle so they mayalso be wetting down the yard. The system may be installed with 20gallon per minute heads or to any National Firefighters ProtectionAssociation's requirements.

Station 2 may have one sprinkler head placed at each corner of the roofand adjusted to cover the yard.

Station 3 may have one sprinkler head placed at each corner of the housein the yard and adjusted to cover the yard. This will provide doublecoverage for the house.

Station 4 may have one sprinkler head placed at each corner of the lotand at the top of the fence and may be adjustable to cover wetting downthe house. Since they may be full circle heads, they could also wet downthe neighboring house or help contain a fire until the firefightersarrive.

The fire protection system may be a dry system to prevent freezing. A 1″PVC drain line may be tied into the line 6″ above each of the systemscontrol valves. Another control valve may be installed in the drain lineto allow the drain line to close when the FireScaping system isactivated and may open when the system shuts off. This would allow waterto drain out of the system and drain to any of lavatories as iswell-known with air conditioning (A/C) condensate lines.

A non-toxic fire protection liquid can be injected into the system atthe central plant to help with putting the fire out.

The “FireScaping” system may be monitored and controlled through alaptop or desktop computer by the local fire department, the utilityprovider, or the property owner's association.

An inside sprinkler system may be installed. The FireScaping systemallows activated heads to be automatically shut off in a predeterminedtime to avoid water damage to the home and only the heads in the roomwith the fire activated.

A manual override button may be placed in each room where there areheads. The water may be shut off with the button only if the head isactivated. The heads may be turned on again if the fire starts up again.Once the fire has been controlled, the button may be reset.

Turning again to the underground irrigation aspects of the presentinvention (see FIG. 1), it may be seen that GrayScaping may be providedto every structure from which the graywater was collected. It will besupplied by graywater, supplemented with rainwater, or the treatedeffluent from sewage treatment plants or aerobic systems, or reclaimedwater from a utility, if available, or a potable water supply. Thepurpose is to ensure that the GrayScaping will have water supply toirrigate the landscaping. The graywater is collected from single familyhomes, homes in residential subdivision, resort, commercialestablishment, communities, villages, towns, cities or militaryestablishments by splitting the mains to separate the graywater from theblackwater creating two (2) mains. With the present invention, thegraywater from the lavatories, bath tubs, whirlpool tubs, showers,washing machines and the NC condensate (which represents approximately65% of the potable waters that supplies the home) is diverted into thegraywater main. Effluent from the toilets, kitchen sink, and thedishwasher is diverted into the blackwater main. The graywater is thendirected into the graywater main at the street and flows to thegraywater/rainwater/fire protection recycling system plant and into thedesignated graywater collection tanks.

The collected graywater is then filtered, but not treated, to retain thenutrients for landscaping. It is then pressurized and routed back toeach residence or establishment via a graywater supply line (71) for usein a foundation watering system (EGW) (FIG. 1) and for the uniquelandscape irrigation system. The system (1) shown in FIGS. 1 and 1Cincludes automatic underground injection of pesticides, fungicides, soilactivators and fertilizers; an automatic flushing system for theblackwater main; and an automatic flushing system for flushing eachsection of the underground irrigation system to keep the system cleanedof debris and to avoid “ponding” or aboveground application ofgraywater.

The improved system of the present invention provides an automatic,underground, pressurized irrigation system installed 4″ to 5″underground, near the root system of the landscape. The system mayrequires the builder or landscaper to install a minimum of 6″ of sandyloam topsoil to allow the graywater to easily flow throughout thetopsoil. Soil activators injected into the graywater at the centralplant on a monthly or quarterly basis may ensure that the soil maintainsits structure.

The underground GrayScaping irrigation system is tied into theregulated, pressurized supply line stubbed out at the front or back ofthe lot (see FIG. 1E) and includes an electronic meter to allow theconstant reading of graywater usage through a computer or laptop; adouble check valve assembly for backflow prevention; a pressure reducingvalve to regulate the pressure; and a shut off valve. From the tie-in,the main graywater supply line (71) is extended to each of the controlvalves for each landscape irrigation zone or section and is operated byan automatic controller or timer. As FIG. 1 illustrates, each zone mayinclude a grid of ½″ pipes installed on approximately one foot (1′) oncenters with each pipe containing, root guard emitters also placed on 1′on centers. The emitters may vary from ½ gallon of graywater per hourfor shaded areas and slopes, up to 4 gallons of graywater per hour forthe sunny spots.

With this system, the irrigation system may be custom designed for eachhome and eliminate any “stripping” or areas not getting adequate water.Each grid of pipes includes an automatic air valve at the high side ofthe grid which allows air to escape the grid when the control valve isopened initially for watering and an automatic drain valve at the lowside of the grid to allow the draining of the grid when the controlvalve shuts off the grid. This prevents the grid from freezing.

The present inventive system may incorporate a designated portion of thegraywater pressurized supply line (200) (FIGS. 1 and 1D) to extendinside the building structure to cooperate with the “RainScapingToilets” to flush effluent in the blackwater mains to the street byallowing 5 gallons of graywater to flush the toilets instead of thestandard 1.6 gallons per flush. Again, these are 5 gallon toilet tanksinstalled inside the wall with a keyed access panel from the outside.The plastic, graywater flush tank may be a wall installed tank. Thetoilet may be wall mounted. It may have an automatic flushing device andan automatic toilet lid closing device.

Turning again to FIGS. 1 and 1E, the graywater collection tank systemmay be seen. All graywater is collected from the homes, multi-familyunits and establishments by the method described above as “splitting themains”. This separates the graywater from the blackwater. The graywateris directed, in its own graywater main (50), to the trench describedabove as TrenchScaping. It then continues to gravity flow into thecentral plant.

Graywater (and any supplemental treated water) enters a first collectiontank (52) sized according to one-half of the development's usage oftreated water and the graywater. This represents 100% of the water thatentered the house and that 100% is recycled and used in the landscapingfor homes and the subdivision. The tank (52) is built to have aseparator (110) (FIG. 3A) similar to a grease trap. This is designed toseparate soap scum allowing pumps to access just the clean graywater. Afloat system (12) is installed in the first tank (52) to turn solenoidvalves on and off for supplemental water supplies including therainwater system and the potable water system. This ensures the firsttank will be full for pumping graywater into a pressure tank.

If the graywater level drops, a solenoid valve located at the bottom ofthe rainwater tank opens and feeds rainwater to fill the graywater tank(52). This helps aerate the graywater tank. At the appropriate level,the solenoid valve shuts off the rainwater to this tank. Graywateroverflow flows to a second graywater tank (52 a). If the rainwatersystem gets low, a control system (including transducers, probes, and/orfloats) installed in the rainwater tank turns on a solenoid valve on a2″ line from the pond or lake, and recharges (from the top) therainwater tank. When a float reaches a rainwater level just below theoverflow that goes to fill the pond, a signal is transmitted to shut offthe solenoid valve on the pipe from the pond. The pond has waterfallsand fountains for aeration and has the same float system and an overflowto go to a detention pond to maintain the level of the pond. Anyoverflow in the detention pond will flow into the retention pond where apump is installed to take this water to a series of tanks for reservesto be used as a supplementary water supply to the rainwater tank at theplant. The rainwater tank also uses the same process for overflow. Therainwater uses potable water to supplement a depleted tank. Apre-determined low level may supply the potable water automatically. Ameter and a cut-off valve are installed in the potable water line andwill have an air gap when filling at the top of the rainwater tank. Whenthe float reaches a level just below the rainwater tank's overflow, asignal is sent to the solenoid valve to shut off the potable water linewhich ensures that there will be a supply of graywater for irrigation,sufficient rainwater to flush all the toilets in the subdivision, andsufficient rainwater in the fire protection system. A meter, cut-offvalve and backwater valve (or double check valve) may be installed inthis automatic rainwater tank fill line prior to the graywater tank.

A 1¼″ line from a small pump may be extended to the graywater andrainwater tank's automatic sediment cleaning system including a pipingsystem installed at the bottom of the tanks with suction heads to keepsediment from settling and caking up. This small pump is automaticallyturned on periodically to draw any settled sediment from the bottom ofthe rainwater and graywater tanks and pump it into a small aerobicsystem to be filtered and recycled into the graywater tanks. This alsoallows aeration of the graywater tanks. A line extends from pump #1 inthe pump house (55) to inside graywater tank (52) with a pump screencovering the end of the pipe. This is used for pumping the graywaterinto the graywater pressure tank (58) which is regulated by a compressorin the pump house. It also has a probe system which will turn pump #1 onwhen the graywater level reaches the pre-determined lower level. When itreaches the pre-determined upper level the probe sends a signal to acontrol box to shut off pump #1.

A second graywater tank (52 a) may serve as a back-up and an alternatesystem for the first tank (52). It is designed like the first graywatertank except pump #2 in the pump house will not come on unless the floatrises to a level of graywater below the overflow and signals it to comeon. As soon as pump #2 comes on, pump #1 is shut down. As long asgraywater is being overflowed from tank #1 (52) into tank #2 (52 a) anddoes not reach a lower probe, pump #2 will continue pumping from thistank (52 a). As soon as the graywater level reaches the lower probe,pump #2 will be shut off and pump #1 will resume the pumping from tank#1 (52). An automatic sediment cleaning system (110) also may beinstalled inside tank #2 (52 a) and use the same pump as tank #1 (52).The overflow (54) (FIG. 3E) from tank #2 may be run into an aerobicsystem at the plant, treated and returned to the graywater tank. Priorto entering the pump, the graywater will go through three separate typesof filters (56). The first may be a leaf basket filter to catch anyheavy debris. The second may be a filter similar to a swimming poolfilter. The third may be a micron filter to remove the finest debrisbefore being sent to GrayScaping. A strainer may also be installedbefore the pump. A bubble bead filtration system may be installed with aback flushing system. An ultra violet light may be installed if needed.

While the systems and methods of this invention have described in termsof preferred embodiments, it will be apparent to those of skill in theart that variations may be applied to the systems, methods, and in thesteps or in the sequence of steps of the method described herein withoutdeparting from the concept, spirit and scope of the invention. Morespecifically, it will be apparent that certain materials that are bothfunctionally and mechanically related might be substituted for thematerials described herein while the same or similar results would beachieved. All such similar substitutes and modifications to thoseskilled in the art are deemed to be within the spirit, scope and conceptof the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:
 1. A graywater recycling system for a plurality of homes in asubdivision comprising: separate graywater and blackwater drain lines ineach of said homes, each of said separate graywater drains connected toa common graywater main drain pipe outside of each of said plurality ofhomes, said common graywater main drain connected to a central graywatercollection plant adapted to pressurize collected graywater, each of saidseparate blackwater drains connected to a common blackwater main pipeoutside of each of said plurality of homes, said common blackwater maindrain pipe connected to a central blackwater collection and treatmentfacility; and a common graywater flushing line connected at one end tosaid central graywater collection plant and connected at a second end toan upstream end of each of said separate blackwater drain lines todirectly communicate a portion of said pressurized collected graywaterto said upstream end of each of said separate blackwater drain lines forflushing the full length of each of said separate blackwater drainlines.
 2. A graywater recycling system of claim 1 further comprising: asubsurface graywater irrigation network; said graywater flushing lineconnected to said irrigation network.
 3. The graywater recycling systemof claim 1 further comprising: a rainwater collection system in fluidcommunication with a graywater collection and distribution network. 4.The graywater recycling system of claim 1 further comprising: agraywater collection and distribution network; and a flushing watersource provided by said graywater network.
 5. The recycling system ofclaim 4 wherein said flushing water source is further in fluidcommunication with a rainwater collection and distribution network. 6.The graywater recycling system of claim 3 further comprising a fireprotection sprinkler system in fluid communication with the graywatercollection and distribution network.
 7. The recycling system of claim 3further comprising a sediment cleaning system.
 8. The recycling systemof claim 1 further comprising a pipe trench carrying both said commongraywater and common blackwater main drain pipes, said trench having adivider separating said common graywater and common blackwater maindrain pipes.